New Mexico declares state of emergency

SANTA FE, N. M. – Alan Webber, the mayor of Santa Fe, has declared a state of emergency in the city to allow him to remove a statue of Spanish conquistador Don Diego De Vargas and begin the legal process to remove two other monuments.

De Vargas is revered by some as a leader among the Spanish settlers in New Mexico but reviled by Native Americans who accuse him of brutal treatment after he led a re-conquest of Santa Fe after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

The emergency proclamation, which Mayor Webber signed on June 18, allows him to legally prohibit or require certain actions “to protect life and property and preserve public peace and safety” according to the document.

Recently, a demonstration in Albuquerque at the site of a statue of conquistador Juan de Onate ended in the shooting of a protestor and the removal of the statue ordered to a safe location by the mayor of Albuquerque.

“Recent events in Albuquerque and in other cities around the country have demonstrated how protests aimed at statues, monuments and other historical figures can escalate into violence and cause serious harm to people and property,” Webber says in the declaration of emergency.

The declaration was signed as demonstrations were planned at the statue and monuments around Santa Fe.

“There is currently civil unrest across the country and in the City of Santa Fe due to historic trauma and institutional racism,” the mayor continues in the declaration. “Santa Fe has a long and complex history that includes trauma, tragedy and sorrow” which was recognized by the City, and organizations including the All Pueblo Council of Governors and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

Certain monuments displayed in Santa Fe “depict historic figures and events that involve or depict events causing historic trauma and have led to present day civil unrest,” he says.

These include the statue of De Vargas in Cathedral Park in the center of Santa Fe, an obelisk dedicated to Kit Carson in front of the US Courthouse and the Soldiers Monument obelisk in the Santa Fe Plaza.

The Soldiers Monument obelisk also called the American Indian War Memorial has been vandalized in the past and was vandalized again recently.  Photos show the words “racist” and “Tewa Land” spray painted on the obelisk and there is a hole hammered into the base. The obelisk is said to be dedicated “to Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War Battles in New Mexico.”  On one side was originally inscribed “to the heroes who have fallen in various battles with savage Indians in the Territory of New Mexico.”

The word savage was chiseled off in 1974.

Mayor Webber orders the statue of de Vargas removed and placed in a safe location and he asks the city manager and city attorney to begin the legal process to remove the two obelisks.

The mayor also calls for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission made up of community members from Santa Fe and northern New Mexico to make recommendations to the city regarding the future of the city’s historic statues and monuments. He asks for nominations of community members for the commission.

Finally, he calls on members of the community in Santa Fe “to maintain peace in our city, reject expressions of anger that involve violence or hatred and use this moment to engage in respectful dialog about our past and prayerful reflection on our city’s future.”

The controversy does not end there.  A petition entitled “Stop erasing our Spanish history and culture” circulated by a website called Pinon Post opposes the removal of the De Vargas statue and the obelisks.

Pinon Post calls itself “conservative news for an informed New Mexico.” Its owner John Block wrote a letter to Mayor Webber and turned it into a petition. He has collected 1,919 signatures as of June 23, Block wrote in an email.

The petition asks the mayor to stop removing statues in Santa Fe.

“Recent actions by your administration to take down the rich cultural images across Santa Fe including the statue of Don Diego de Vargas, the obelisk in the heart of Santa Fe’s down town Plaza and other artifacts symbolizing our sacred Spanish heritage is not helping mend wounds, it’s erasing our Hispanic history and heritage,” the petition continues.

“For centuries Spanish and Native American people have co-existed in our community and together we have lifted it up to what it is today. However, your administration’s actions to cave into the cancel culture of radical and frankly racist anti-Hispanic groups like The Red Nation hurts the fabric of our culture and everything we stand for as a united people. We can exist alongside other cultures without tearing down our past.”

The petition then demands the mayor to “stop the senseless destruction of our heritage by ripping down our sacred landmarks and return our statue to their rightful places. Only together can we unite as a culture, and we do not need to tear down each other’s history to do it.”

Asked his opinion of the mayor’s actions, Block said in the email “Mayor Webber’s unilateral decision to rip down select statues based on anger from extremist anti-Hispanic groups overstepped his power as mayor. He should have consulted the City Council and citizens before taking that first step, not afterward. The very actions to take down these statues of Spanish leaders shows disrespect for Americans of Hispanic heritage and their culture.”

On June 23, the City of Santa Fe issued a news release saying that the city is working with several departments in the city to protect the obelisk from further damage with a temporary eight-foot high plywood barrier adjacent to the obelisk for use as a public artwork installation – “a place to share artistic images that resonate and elevate.”

“The community is invited to share words and images of hope and healing on this installation,” the release states.

Elena Ortiz (Ohkay Owingeh), head of Red Nation in Santa Fe, who has been active in the movement to remove statues of conquistadors in New Mexico, said in an email that the mayor’s actions to remove statues and create a committee to reconcile differences “is a step in the right direction.”

But, she added “these statues and monuments are only a glimpse into the real racism that exists in this town. We need to acknowledge that this is Tewa territory, that this city was built on stolen land, that the people who were here first are being exploited by the tourism industry with(out) benefitting from it.”

In selecting members of the commission, she said that she hopes the mayor will go beyond tribal leaders and “reach out to the organizations and groups who do work on behalf of Native People in Northern New Mexico including The Red Nation and others.”

 

(Contact Kate Saltzstein can be reached at salty223@aol.com)

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